The Beginning
by Illyrian Lassie
Summary: Chad and Ichigo's first interaction. How he met him, introspect him, and subsequently made a lifelong friendship. Chad/Ichigo, subtle yaoi, Oneshot.


**The Beginning**

Author's Note: This is submitted for the fanfic writing challenge over at Senkaimon LJ comm (like in other fics I submitted as of recent, I highly recommend people to visit the comm. The number of good fics have increased with the challenge). This is written over two months ago, so you might have seen it somewhere. Nevertheless, please enjoy what I have, and constructive criticisms are more than welcomed.

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There are many things that Kurosaki Ichigo is to Sado Yasutora "Chad", but he also always felt that merely "friends" is by no means a concise word to describe their relationship. In fact, it's not even anywhere near accurate.

He had been making observations since he moved to Karakura Junior High, noticing that he had a different aura surrounding him unlike others. While kids at that age were particularly complex due to the lack of self-comprehension, he realized that Ichigo was anything but complex. People pretend, act according to what the society expects them to, and do what were required from them – but Ichigo's every fiber spelled indifference.

Indifference to his surroundings.

He never responded to his classmates' jeers, suspicions or when they whispered rumours of his exaggerated delinquency. He comes late to class, and sat at the back while sometimes not bothering to answer to what the teachers were asking him.

"Hey, have you heard? I think someone saw Kurosaki yesterday beating up street thugs behind a lane! He was lucky that no police came, or he would have been locked up."

Some other people would squirm in half-horror. "Ouch, at the rate he's behaving, it wouldn't surprise me if he would be caught someday."

"It's no wonder everybody's scared of him, he's too freaking fierce!"

"His scowl reduces even Sakaki-kun to tears!"

"Seriously? The Sakaki-kun who won the national championship in Judo?"

"I'm serious! I just saw him this morning, and he was covered with bruises, and he ran as far as possible the moment Kurosaki appeared in the school."

Being a silent demenour does make you more susceptible to not being noticed, Chad thought, and in this case, it did come in handy. He couldn't help but wonder at the irony if the conversation.

Sakaki, the said Judo champion was indeed reduced to tears, but it was indirectly by his own volition. Gaining a new celebrity status in the school as the hero who ascended the school's pride to one to look up to in the sports arena, Sakaki had been gathering regular delinquents in the school and had them call him "boss". He decided, a day prior, to challenge Ichigo to eliminate the other fearsome figure in the school, but was sadly defeated by him.

Chad wouldn't say that he had thought of coming back to Japan and attending school as a cultural-clashing experience, but he was slowly gaining an understanding about the pressurizing atmosphere in the society that many failed to empathize with. Obsessed with pride and honour, he had personally seen how societal acceptance is but a hard-earned asset for some people like Ichigo.

"Kurosaki, you're late again!"

The teacher stopped the explanation on the processes involved in human respiratory system to scorn at the guy who just entered the classroom.

"Alarm clock wasn't working" was his answer. In fact, from what everyone knew, it was his ionly/i answer.

"Get in." The teacher, a woman in her late-thirties, pushed her glasses up her nose and turned her back to the students and continued her lesson.

Ichigo settled at the back, and Mizuiro nudged him lightly.

"Great job Ichigo!"

Keigo frowned at him. "You should have asked me to be there, so that people would know better than to mess with you just because he's the champion!"

"Shut up, it's not like they would stop anyway." Ichigo yawned.

He went through the rest of the class scribbling things, yawning once in a while, and sometimes lying on his hand in boredom.

Chad walked home alone later that day, listening to the walkman he stored in his locker, thinking on the arrangements of the notes to test on his guitar.

"Don't!"

He turned his head and saw that three girls were beings surrounded by a group of guys whom he recognized as those who proudly pledged their loyalty to Sakaki.

"You girls like our boss, right?" One with bleached hair moved forward and spoke. "We'll help you, all we ask is a little favour, that's it."

The girl who screamed just now retaliated. "But, it's…"

"What? Is that so revolting that you wouldn't even say it out? It's just a few pictures."

"You guys are disgusting!" This time, it was a girl with braids who spoke, gesturing as though she was defending the screaming girl from the bunch of guys.

The guy with bleached hair immediately grabbed her hand and slapped the braided girl.

"Shut up! You are in no place to speak, whore!"

Chad's immediate instinct was to rush in and punch the one with bleached hair, startling the other few significantly.

"Run", he whispered to the girls.

The girls ran as fast as possible, leaving Chad to fight the guys, but before long, he realized that he was outnumbered.

"Hey, you!"

The guys looked up to the speaker, and to Chad's relief, retreated right away and left. He breathed deeply, ignoring the pain in the chest which resulted from the kicks. Then he saw a hand pulling him up.

"Really, they are just a bunch of cowards."

"Come, I'll take you to my dad. Don't worry about the fees, if it's my friend, the old man wouldn't mind treating for free."

Chad just realized that he never really spoke to Ichigo, but there he was, initiating an interaction with him. He suddenly felt rather dumb, as though he was a person who met someone spectacular.

"Thanks."

Ichigo's scowl bent to form a confounded stare.

"You're really as quiet as what people made you out to be, aren't you?"

Chad wanted to say that he was much more talkative than people made him out to be, but only a syllable came out instead.

"Yeah."

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End file.
